12 Gifts of Christmas
by ckaira77
Summary: Jack finds a magical ring that lets him have twelve wishes. How will he use it? This is a story I had decided to write to try and give my own reason for why the Twelve Days of Christmas song was written.


**12 Gifts of Christmas**

This story starts many years ago. A young boy was walking down the snow covered streets. He was sort of reluctant to return home. He didn't want to do the chores, but he kept telling himself that it had to be done. Also, he would have to be greeted to another meal that was basically dirt. His family was poor. When he had to do the chores, that would mean he had to go through trash cans to get food for him and his mother. It was the last thing he wanted to do on the day before Christmas.

"Jack! Jack! Wait up! I need to show you something!" yelled another boy running up to him. Jack recognized him at once. It was his best friend Tristen. He had blonde hair and was just as poor as him, but still had high spirits even in a dreadful situation. He had something in his hand. It looked like a ring.

"What is it Tristen? Another weird gadget that you found?" asked Jack turning to his friend.

"No. It was this cool ring I found! I thought that you would like it, so I thought I'd give it to you. It looks like you've got a lot on your mind, so I'll let you get back to leaving," said Tristen shoving the ring into his hands and running off just as soon as he came. This was common for him.

Jack looked it over. It was unique indeed, but he wasn't sure why anyone would want to put on such a pointless thing. It had rust on it, so Jack just assumed that he got it from the pawn shop. He stuck it in his pocket. It was then that he reached his home. His mother ran out to greet him.

"Jack, were you able to find anything at all decent for us to eat by chance?" she asked him. Her heart sank when Jack shook his head.

"Well, we'll have to make do with what we have. A little bit of coal to keep warm and a house to have shelter. I need you to go out one more time to find something for us to eat. Please!" begged his mother pushing him back to the streets.

Jack walked out into an ally. He put his hand in his pocket and ran his finger over the ring thinking about how much he'd like to have something other than trash for once. The ring began to somehow heat up in his pocket. Jack took it out in astonishment. It was also glowing!

"You young Jack have rubbed the ring of wishes. With this, you can have twelve wishes, but only on today. By sunrise tomorrow, the ring will become powerless. I know this, for I am the enchantress of the ring of wishes," said a female voice. A beautiful lady in a white gown with blue eyes appeared. She had long pitch black hair and wore a smile that couldn't be nicer. Jack fell to his knees in wonderment.

"My lady, how may I be of service? I am only a humble boy with nothing, but a mother and a little house. I will do whatever it is you wish of me," Jack told her. She sympathized with him and motioned for him to stand up.

"Did you not hear correctly? I am the enchantress of the ring. I can grant you twelve wishes today at most. I will do this for you at a simple command. You only have to say certain words. You say 'The first gift of Christmas my enchantress gave to me.' That is for your first wish at least. Your heart is sad due to lack of food is it not? I can bring you fruit to your home at your command!" she explained.

"Very well. Be sure to make it appear at my house, though. The first gift of Christmas my enchantress gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree," Jack recited. He wasn't sure why he chose a pear tree, but he knew it would be for a good cause.

"Why a partridge?" asked the enchantress who just fulfilled the wish.

"My mother's favorite bird is the partridge. Once she saw a picture of one and said their brown feathers were adorable!" Jack replied.

"How thoughtful of you! What shall you wish for next?" asked the enchantress curiously. She readied her wish-granting magic.

"I don't know… Maybe I could have my favorite bird! I was always fond of turtle doves. Although, there have to be two. One alone means peace, two I believe means both love and peace. The second gift of Christmas my enchantress gave to me, two turtle doves," said Jack thoughtfully. Before he knew it, a cage with two turtle doves perched next to each other sat on the ground next to his feet. Jack was very grateful to the enchantress but suggested that she stayed in her ring until he needed her help again.

Jack returned to his house and saw a giant tree outside his house! Giant pears were appearing by the dozens on the branches! His mother was picking away at the pears with joy.

"Jack, I can't believe this! It's a miracle I tell you! All these pears should last us the rest of the winter! I have no idea how it got here, but I'm happy it's here!" his mother cried. She looked up and saw the partridge with excitement. It sang a note from the top of the pear tree.

"Actually, I was the one-"

"The only thing better would be some eggs to go along with these pears! Maybe a meat! I don't care! We need to live off of something other than pears!" she yelled.

Jack ran to the back of his house. He summoned the enchantress yet again. He asked if she could send him three french hens in a hen house to provide eggs for them. She agreed.

"The third gift of Christmas my enchantress gave to me, three french hens," said Jack. In an instant, they appeared.

That afternoon, they enjoyed pears and eggs for lunch. It was delightful for them. Better than a lot of meals they've had in the past. There was a Christmas Eve celebration happening in town that they decided to go to that night. Jack took his ring, but he left his turtle doves.

"We need birds! The kind that'll call to each other! Who likes to observe silent birds after all!" snapped a man who made money by showing off many pretty birds. He didn't have any birds to present yet, but he was trying to get his employees to catch some. When Jack discovered they couldn't catch any, he felt sorry for them.

"The fourth gift of Christmas my enchantress gave to me, four calling birds," whispered Jack. The calling birds appeared and were chatting away. Their bright colors were already attracting an audience. The people would actually start throwing the man some money for the gorgeous display.

Jack kept on sympathizing for everyone. He wished to give a poor man five golden rings, a family six geese laying eggs, another poor family seven swans swimming, eight maids who'd milk cows for a farmer with many cows, and used his last wishes for the parade the town was having. He wished for nine ladies dancing, ten lords leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming for the parade. It was right then he realized that he had run out of wishes. He then felt foolish. He used his wishes far too fast. Hardly even thought before he made them. He could have wished for stuff to make his life better. Pears, eggs, and doves would be all he got.

Jack then looked around. He did help out many people. Without him, there wouldn't even have been a parade. A lot of people would go on being poor and feastless. The farmer wouldn't have had all the maids he needed. It then occurred to Jack that he did do some good that day. He stopped worrying about the wishes and enjoyed the parade. The important thing was that he helped others when they needed it. The families had a feast, the man made a fortune, and the farmer got enough help with his work. The parade was also a success. So, the wishes weren't so bad after all.

When sunrise came, he said goodbye to his friend the enchantress and thanked her for everything. This would be a day he'd never forget. I'm pretty sure that Jack still has the ring somewhere. Probably sitting in with the partridge in the pear tree. I even heard that he wrote a song based on this story. However, he did change some of the words. I'm sure you can remember it!


End file.
